1900.;; Catalogue of the Coleoptem of South Africa. 23 



Gen. SCAEAB/EUS, Lin., 

 Syst. Nat., 12th ed., 1767, p. 545. 

 Actinophorua, Cxent; 2f. AtcucJius, Web.; Heliocantharus, McLeay; 

 Mnematium, McLeay. 

 Mentum ovoid, sometimes with a distinct basal vertical tubercle ; 

 last joint of labial palpi very small, that of the maxillary narrow, 

 elongate, grooved outwardly; clypeus semicircular, sometimes very 

 broadly triangular (S. laticeps), always armed with six triangular, 

 more or less recurved teeth the two median ones of which are often 

 sub-carinate underneath, or with vertical teeth pointing downwards 

 and with a smaller tooth in the centre [Sebasteos) ; the surface of 

 the head and of the lateral lobes is deeply punctured, the punctures 

 are verj- elongate and closely set on the clypeus, but the base of the 

 head and of the lateral lobes is sometimes granulate ; there is always 

 a more or less distinct transverse ridge on the head, as w^ell as a 

 median protuberance, more or less conical, and turning into a very 

 distinct tubercle in some species (»S'. zavibesiaims, coniifrons, modcs- 

 tus) ; the eyes are divided into two by the gente of the clypeus, and 

 have always a superciliary ridge ; antennae ten-jointed, basal joint 

 as long as the five following, the three apical ones forming the club ; 

 prothorax large, always convex, although more depressed in some 

 species (S. cicatricosus, parvulus, lucidulus, ruhripcnnis, fritschi), 

 granulate or punctured with the sides often granulose, broader than 

 the elytra, rounded and more or less closely crenulate laterally and 

 always ciliate ; scutellum indistinct or very small (S. prodigiosus, 

 infcrnalis) ; elytra little convex except past the middle where they 

 are often gibbose along the suture, finely striate with the intervals 

 more or less deeply punctured and sometimes nearly smooth, but 

 always showing traces of two series of punctures ; shoulders always 

 slanting and sides sometimes nearly parallel, but oftener a little 

 ampliate past the shoulder and attenuate towards the apex ; the 

 outer margin is carinate, and there are always two supra-marginal 

 cariniE more or less overhanging the outer margin and set close to 

 one another ; in the sub-genus Sebasteos, however, the inner carina 

 disappears or becomes obliterated either in the posterior part 

 (S. caffer, laticeps), in the anterior part {S. galenus), or is normal 

 (S. plausibilis) ; the pygidium is exposed, obtusely triangular, punc- 

 tured or granulose ; the mesosternum is more or less aculeate in 

 front and more or less deeply impressed in the centre, or in the 

 centre and base, while the anterior part is often more or less deeply 

 grooved ; the anterior legs are tri- or quadri-dentate outwardly, but 

 in the first instance there is always a basal tooth smaller than the 



